Feeling Or Thinking

Just like Sensing and Intuition (in MBTI) are different, the judging and perceiving preferences are also very different. Thinking and Feeling have similar differences:

1. The question: Is there a purpose is asked by a Thinking person. To a feeling person having a logical purpose is unnecessary. While an aesthetic appreciation is fundamental to an F. 
2. As I had mentioned in an earlier post, the opinion that something seems "contradictory" occurs to a thinking person. An F would not have the need to be rationally consistent. A contradiction is taken to be a serious issue by a T. An F does have contradiction as part of his value system.
3. "Have faith" are key words of an F. 
4. F's would hate to slot people and objects into defined categories. T's would be naturally inclined to slotting.
5. F's (especially extroverted and perceiving) would come across as very empathetic. T's (especially introverted and Judging) would come across as unempathetic. A Judging personality is much better off combined with a F than with a T. FJ's would come across as more pleasant than TJ's.
6. F's (especially extraverted ones) would make great lawyers. T's would make good judges.
7. An F is usually extremely sensitive to physical pain and there is high need for comfort. A T usually is/does not.
8. An F knows the value of packaging and communicating a message appropriately. This does not come naturally to a T and it's not part of his value system.
9. F has affection, love, fear, greed etc. T does not feel these much. T respects.
10. When asked to compare two things, T is likely to use a tabular representation (unlike the F who is generally uncomfortable with the process of identifying parameters where the two things differ). An F is more likely to give an essay type answer.
11. When someone mentions a problem, a T would try to find a solution for the problem. An F is likely to say something context independent like (in Tamil) "உங்க  நல்ல மனசுக்கு எல்லாம் நல்லபடியா நடக்கும்" or (in English) "I don't know why such things happen to good people. But be patient. Things will definitely work out for you.". I say it's context independent because it can be used no matter what the nature of the problem is.
12. Today i was watching the movie Jayamkondan where a mother says about her daughter "அவளுக்கு தர்கரீதியா பேசத்தெரியும். அனால் தர்மரீதியா பேசத்தெரியாது" - meaning the daughter can argue a point well but she doesn't know right from wrong. I guess she implied that her daughter was a T and not an F. I don't agree that F are more moral than T. They definitely feel more for a person's problem than a T would. But that doesn't make them more moral. 
13. T is perfectly happy if a rule (even a complicated one but one needs no human intervention / interpretation) can handle difficult situations. F will be aghast thinking of a rule being empowered with handling complex situations.

These do not mean that F people are in any way inferior to T or vice versa. The two are different just as left handed and right handed people are different. Shaking hands is just a little more awkward between the two.

In schools, we encourage children to be J's regardless of whether a child is naturally a J or a P. P nature is discouraged in students. This is rather unfortunate. It is the P nature which helps people to become more adaptable and adjust to circumstances. I wish we had a curriculum in schools which appreciated appreciation of the P nature. J's who had been achievers academically in school have a hard time coming to terms with the open ended nature of the world we live in. It's a severe shock to J's which they are unprepared for. 
I wish the people who define school curriculum take this into account. Adult life doesn't need as much of finishing all homework in time and passing exams. Granted, a J student cannot be changed to a P but at least he needs to know what he hasn't got and that P is very important for a happy life.

Additional reading:

• http://introspective-to-a-fault.blogspot.in/2013/04/a-word-on-empathy.html - Waitress - Manager example is nice.
• http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2015/02/intuitive-or-sensing.html
• http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2015/02/entrepreneurs-and-employees.html
• http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2014/10/einstfpj-mbti.html
• http://www.slayerment.com/blog/becoming-attorney-game-life